Blood and Light
by SayuriNozomi
Summary: Will Hidan be actually able to show feelings, other than hate or blood thirst? Would he be able to show feelings to people other than his beloved God? Can Natsuki find an entry to his heart? ... Lovestory with action   HidanXOC  Natsuki
1. Characteristics

Name**: ** Natsuki

Age: 21

Kekkai Genkai: Her abilities are often called „Tenshi no chikara" which means as much as „the angel's power" but later more to that…

Fighting:  Usually she doesn't fight at all but instead uses her protection shield from her Kekkai Genkai. 30% of her chackra are constantly used to keep up a light barrier. A sudden or unexpected hit causes an immediate loss of 40% chackra. If she's able though to stabilize her barrier before it hits her the chackra loss will be reduced to the 30% which keep up her barrier anyway.

Appearance: Natsuki has long, light brown hair, which falls in slight waves over her shoulders. Together with her gold-brown eyes it'd be the perfect picture for a cute, little sister. However, when her Kekkai Genkai is activated and in one of the higher levels, her hair becomes dark red and her eyes change to a silver-white.


	2. Did I land in a zoo or in a kindergarden

"Join or die now?" Puzzled the girl looked at the speaker. „I'm being hunted as a nuke-nin for quite some time now. Did you really think I would be afraid of death?" she said calm, with an icy tone in her voice. "Everybody clings to life, if you want to admit it or not." replied the blue sharkman grinning, showing his white sharp teeth. "Get to the point. I may not look like it but I actually have a lot of things to do, so… I do not want to join your little group of crazy killers but I would prefer to avoid bloodshed. Bonus question: How many possibilities do I have?" she asked sarcastically. "None. Just decide or we're going to do that for you." said the black haired, who hadn't made any noises yet, cold. Her gold-brown eyes sent a poisonous glare to the Akatsukis. Then she turned away and stared into the wide blue sky. "I'll go with you" she said after a short silence. "But do not dare to touch me in any way!" Her voice was determined. "So, where are we going?" she asked smiling while turning back to the two men.

"Join or die?" The girl rolled her eyes in extreme annoyance. „Didn't your parents teach you anything else to say? Seriously! I'm surrounded by a herd of idiots!" The last part she said more to herself than to the others. "If I didn't plan to join, I wouldn't have come here in the first place!" she continued a little louder. Before the Leader had the chance of answering, a loud voice emerged from the door. "What the fuck! Why the hell did I have to get up this fucking early? I hope you assholes have prepared a victim and have a fucking good reason for making me get up at this time of the day! Because if not… then Jashin may be gracious… or actually… no he may not!" A blond, feminine looking guy turned to welcome the newcomer. "Ah Hidan, finally awake, too. How's your headache?" he asked grinning. The man, whose name seemed to be Hidan, shot him a deadly glance. He didn't notice though the little something, Blondie had sent rolling towards him. In the very same moment Hidan turned muttering away from the group, this little something exploded right next to him. The impact of the explosion sent him flying against the wall.

"Wuhaaaaaa, Deidara-senpai, why did you do that? Hidan-senpai will be very angry now." said a guy, with the voice of a little child and an orange mask covering his whole face. While he was talking, Hidan straightened up, swearing like Natsuki had never ever heard like before. But she also wasn't very pleased by the action of the blond. She had an annoying headache anyway and the loud noise would definitely not help her! Simply she abandoned her escort and walked straight to the blond, who was still laughing at his own prank. A single directed hit to his neck and the blond lost consciousness, having less than a moment time to widen his eyes, expressing his complete surprise. "Where am I? In a day care?" Natsuki mumbled to herself, shaking her head. „Since you already took out your original opponent, you'll fight against Kisame now, Natsuki." meant the Leader annoyed. Everybody could see how hard it was for him to keep ignoring Hidan's swearing. That one, however, finally stopped swearing after having kicked the defenseless blond for a few times. Now he turned to face the Leader: "Ey, why did I have to get up in the first place if I don't even get to fight this bitch?" If he had expected a reaction from her side, he was to be disappointed. Something like that, said by someone she didn't even know wouldn't provoke her. Bored she stepped forward and waited for the blue Sushi to get ready. Still nagging Hidan went to the tribune. The others followed, Sasori dragging Deidara with him, which caused him to be in a very bad mood. When everybody had settled Pain opened the fight. Already after the first attacks, she was sure Kisame wouldn't be a danger to her. He obviously had his specialty in Nin- and Taijutsus and those wouldn't have any effect on her, simply bouncing of the barrier. Natsuki didn't move, instead she sat down crossed legged in the lotus and began to meditate. He also seemed to notice that something was odd. Again he placed a fatal hit with Samehada but about two feet from her body, Samehada encountered an unvisible barrier. The power of his own fatal blow turned against him and made him stagger a bit until he regained his balance. In a matter of seconds he formed the signs for Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu. The water dragon moved with great speed and power towards her but again he encountered the invisible barrier two feet before her body and bounced off towards the ceiling.

After two hours Pain finally grew bored and declared the fight for ended. Out of breath Kisame stared unbelieving at Natsuki, who was still sitting put on the ground in the lotus. "Hey bitch, the fight's over. You can get up now and move your fucking ass up here!" shouted Hidan impatiently. She, however, still didn't move. Only when Pain said she should come up to get her cloak, her eyes opened. With grace she straightened up and suddenly stood beside Pain. Smiling he gave her the cloak. He leaned closer to her and whispered: "You'll get a ring as soon as we were able to decide which sign would suite you best." He paused, then added even quieter. "Wait for me in the hallway." She nodded without showing any emotions. She turned and stepped through the door, leading to the living quarters. After a reassuring nod from him she closed the door behind herself. Pain turned to the other members. "For today everything's done. Tomorrow morning I want to see Sasori and Deidara in my office." He trusted Sasori to inform his still unconscious partner later. Then he left the room.

When Hidan, like always swearing to himself, walked the hallway to his room, he suddenly noticed Pain and Natsuki, standing in front of the Leader's office. Immediately he stopped and watched the two of them curiously, not that he ever would have admitted it. He couldn't believe what he saw: Pain was giving Natsuki a gentle kiss on the forehead. And both were smiling! Though he had never seen Pain smiling before, he wasn't really interested if the Big Boss was happy anyway… But with Natsuki that was a whole different story. She was hot anyway and he felt little Hidan twitching each time he saw her. But when she was smiling it wasn't only little Hidan, who was acting up. She was simply stunningly beautiful when she was truly smiling… and cute… As Hidan noticed what he was thinking, he sweared loudly and ran to his room. He had to pray. May Jashin assist him… but it was still bugging him. What the hell could possibly connect Pain and Natsuki? Never mind! He really had to sacrifice somebody…It's been quite some time anyway since the last sacrifice.


	3. Close Friends

Without hesitation Natsuki let herself fall on the bed. She cuddled into the soft sheets and closed her eyes. When Nagato started to laugh, she shot him a playful glare, which softened quickly. "It took me some time to recognize you when you were so cold." she said seriously. Nagato stopped laughing and looked at her with the same severity. "Same goes for you. But… a lot has changed since then. Nothing has been the same since Yahiko's death." The sadness in his eyes didn't surprise her. She hadn't been with the young group, Nagato, Konan and Yahiko, for a long time back then but she knew how hard Yahiko's death must have been for Nagato above all. "I didn't expect you to remember me." mumbled Natsuki. A little smile appeared on Nagato's face. „Back then you were like my sister. If you hadn't been, I probably would have gone crazy…"

~~Flashback~~

Clothes torn to pieces, scratched, cut and bleeding she lay in front of him. Instead of the expected fear, there was only insensibility in her face. How could it be that a girl her age already had to live the nightmare of this world? He turned away and intended to leave. Here was nothing to fetch. However suddenly he heard a quiet laugh. Astonished he turned back. The little girl seemed to be thrilled by the puppy, which was following him around. She reached out with her bloody little hand and caressed the dog carefully. But when she noticed that her hand left bloody traces in the soft fur of the puppy, she flinched away. Her head sank on her breast. Slowly Nagato took again a step towards her. Could it be that she wasn't lost just yet? Carefully he seized her hands and wiped away the blood and dirt with his shirt. Surprised she looked at her clean hands. Then her eyes met his and once again he was surprised at her lack of fear when looking into his eyes. Instead of fear$ or horror there was gratitude and affection. Her cold, small hands moved from the puppy to his cheeks and wiped away his tears. At last she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Everything will be alright." Her clear, warm voice didn't fit into this cold place. However at the sound of her voice something snapped inside of him. Hesitantly he reached out to her. With big eyes, showing astonishment and surprise, she looked at him. Then, uncertain, she put her little hand into his.

~~Flashback End~~

For a long time Nagato stayed at the bed and looked at the sleeping Natsuki. Even when Konan came and sat down next to him, no words were used. Konan hadn't got to live with Natsuki, but it had been easy to understand just how important she had been for Nagato. Though every time her name was mentioned, sadness had crossed Nagato's face, which had kept Yahiko and her from asking about her. As Pain finally got up to settle down on the couch Konan followed him. For a second she put her hand on his shoulder, showing him that she understood very well how much Natsuki's return meant to him. Then he left quietly.


	4. Awkward Incident

"… _You've no choice… You were chosen… You've no choice… You cannot change anything anyway… But it'll be easier for you if you simply accept it. You are my daughter If you want it or not… I do not want to hurt you though you leave me no other choice…" _Panting Natsuki shot up. Her breath went heavily and she was shivering brutally. Slowly the voice of the woman faded away. Quickly she glanced to Pain, who was still soundly asleep on the couch. Quietly she got up and sneaked out of the room. After half an hour of not knowing what to do she decided to get a bit of fresh air; perhaps that would calm her down. To avoid the danger of getting lost she simply used the next window. As soon as she felt the soft grass under her feet she began to run. It would help her to forget everything for now.

Completely out of breath she dropped to the ground. The high grass caught her softly. She didn't know for how long she had lain there as suddenly loud swearing resounded. "What a fucking shit! Those little bastards!Who do they think they are to insult Jashin and to attack his servant? If I had let those filthy sons of whores live only a heartbeat longer, then…" After this there followed a long sentence full of words she had never heard before but didn't sound very polite and civilized. She took a last calm breath and sat up. When she caught sight of Hidan she flinched. His cloak was full of blood and his head wasn't at his spot but was dangling in his left hand. Quickly she got up and ran towards him. "What the hell happened to you?" she asked bluntly. Hidan hadn't noticed her yet so he pulled out his scythe in matter of seconds. With a dull sound the scythe bounced of her barrier and the impact sent Hidan flying (once again). Out of surprise he must have let go of his head, which lied some feet away from his body. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said quickly and ran quickly towards the loudly swearing head. "You bitch, can't you not sneak up on people like this?" Carefully she took the head into her arms and walked to the rest of the body. "I already apologized, didn't I?" she replied slightly annoyed. "Yeah right, just sew me back together, will ya!" nagged Hidan. Natsuki had to keep herself from laughing. It was just too weird. "What's so funny, bitch?" She couldn't stop herself anymore and started to laugh. „Sorry, it's just so ironic… Not even an hour ago you were killing men in a very bloody way and now you're lying there in front of me, helpless because you lost your head." Again she started laughing so hard that she had to hold her belly because it hurt. "Pain was right…" she said still smiling. Hidan stopped in the middle of his swearing and looked at her cautiously. "What did the Big Boss say about me? And why did he kiss you? Are you his fucking lover, or what?" She winced. The happy expression on her face disappeared and she glared at him. "I would NEVER sleep with your Leader in the way you mean it." The cold tone in her voice sent a shiver down Hidan's spine. She got up and put the head out of reach for the body. Without another look she turned to leave. "Hey, wait! You can't just leave me here! At least bring me to the money-grubbing asshole! Hey! I didn't mean it like that! Besides it's not my fault that the Leader just kissed you in the middle of the hallway in bright daylight! Don't just leave me here!" She sighed. Then she turned back and knelt beside him. Carefully, though not as much as before, she took his head and put it on its destined spot. "Lucky for you that you're immortal…" she mumbled more to herself than to him. "I know it's fucking great to be immortal and all that is only thanks to Jashin!" To quiet him down a bit she softly put her finger on his lips. Then she focused her complete attention and concentration to the cut off head. With an easy healing jutsu she connected the head with its body. About five minutes later Natsuki straightened contently up. As well did Hidan. "Ah, feels good! It hurts way less when you do it as when the ass does it!" She smiled shortly and got up quickly to disappear and get back to her original intent of calming down. Grabbing her hand though Hidan stopped her. He couldn't control himself anymore. „Hey, now that we're already here… you could actually do me a favor." Uncertainty crossed her face. She didn't like the way he looked at her at all. "Sorry, Hidan, but Pain is probably already looking for me. I really have to go back." she said determined. But there was no way of getting her hand back. By now it almost felt as if he planned to crush her bones. "It's not fair that it's only the Leader who shall have the pleasure…" Hidan said hot-tempered and threw her against the closest tree. She gasped at the hard impact. A sharp piece of bark gouged into her left shoulder blade. Then he was there, pressing his lips onto hers. She froze abruptly. When she felt his hands wander down her sides, she finally lost control.

Fuck, he desired her, how he never ever had desired anyone! He even felt how much his God Jashin agreed with his desire to melt together with this girl. But suddenly something changed. An explosion of light sent him about a hundred feet flying (again) away from her. He rubbed his throbbing skull while getting up. "How dare you!" sounded the angry voice of a woman. "She helped you, healed your wounds with her powers and you dare to touch her!" The voice resembled more and more loud thunder. Magnetized Hidan stared at Natsuki. Even though the voice came out of her mouth it certainly wasn't hers. Her usual brown, soft hair had changed to a blinding white and her eyes shone in a disturbing icy blue. "Who is the bitch who believes to be able to dictate to Jashin-sama?" "Hold your tongue, son of hell! You are talking to the Goddess of light, Hikari no Kami! And just now you tried to rape my daughter! Your beloved Jashin-sama himself courted my daughter! How dare you… How can you even think of touching her?" Hidan had paled while she had been talking. Natsuki was the daughter of the light Goddess? What the fuck! Abruptly her appearance began to change. The white hair flickered, then turned back to her normal light brown. "No! Do not fear me, my daughter! Do not deny me! You will not be able to deny me forever! Someday you'll have to accept your powers! Let me help you! It won't hurt anymore as soon as you accept them! Please, my beloved…" Her eyes yielded and her usual gold-brown ones appeared. Then she slumped down. However a moment later she jumped up gasping and with fear in her eyes. She shot him a short glance. Then she ran like the wind towards the HQ. For a long time Hidan was standing on the clearance, dumbfounded. He had been a mere inch away to rape a half goddess…

As if the devil were behind her Natsuki ran to the HQ. Not until she stumbled and fell hardly on the ground, she felt her burning lungs and legs. She didn't move but stayed in the position. This had been the first time she had ever lost full control. She had already used her angel powers, though she did not want to be a half goddess. She simply wanted a normal life, being a normal girl like others were. The rest of the night she didn't dare to get up, not expecting her legs to hold her weight.

Not until the sun was about to rise she walked shakily to Pain's room. Quietly she opened the door, not wanting to wake him. Pain was under no circumstances to find out about her nightly trip. She sneaked to the bed and quickly hid under the blankets.


	5. Dangerous and unknown powers

"Hey Big Boss, I've to tell you something fucking important!" shouted Hidan, entering Pain's office unbidden. Annoyed the Leader looked up. "What is it? If this is going to be about slaves for your sacrifices again…" Hidan interrupted him "No, way more important. At least for you…" Impatiently and coldly Pain looked at him. "Your little bitch is the daughter of the Goddess of Light!" Hidan said as if it were a great triumph. Pain rolled his eyes. "Get the hell out of my office! Sacrifice something or do whatever but let me do my work here in peace!" The big smile vanished from Hidan's face. "That's not a joke, damn it! I saw it with my own eyes!" When he noticed that Pain already had turned his attention back to his work, he added furiously: "Ok, you bastard! If you don't want to believe me how about you just ask her yourself! Or I'll simply provoke her like yesterday night, so she loses control." At the "like-yesterday"-part Pain listened up. "What happened yesterday?" he asked with a menacing aura. Without holding back a single detail Hidan told him everything. Bewildered Pain had to admit to himself that Hidan didn't seem to lie. But how could that be possible? Thanks to his unbelievable self-restraint he was able to let Hidan finish before he explained something very important. "Hidan, if you should harass Natsuki again let alone touch her, I swear to your beloved Jashin, I'll first cut you into little pieces, barbecue those pieces and then give them the animals to feed on!" Before Hidan had the possibility to reply something Pain added "And now OUT! I do not want to hear nor see nor smell anything of you for the rest of the day!" His activated Rin'negan wouldn't accept any opposition. Nagging Hidan left the office and with it a thoughtful Leader.

"Natsuki" Startled she turned and looked right into the Rin'negan. "Where do you plan to go in this late hour?" Pain asked coldly. "I… I can't sleep, Nii-san." she whispered. She knew there was no point in lying to her "brother". "What's bothering you so much to keep you from sleeping? Or should I ask 'Who'?" Confused she looked at him. His cold attitude unsettled her. Usually he was only like that in front of other members… "What do you mean 'Who'?" But before he could answer she understood. "You think I'm having an affair?" He opened the mouth to reply but she didn't let him. "With whom do you think? Please explain that to me! With Deidara? Sasori? Do you really think I'm the kind of girl who keeps having affairs without being able to keep up a long relationship?" Disappointment grew in her heart. Only then she noticed the confusion written on Pain's face. "What the hell are you talking about? I've never thought about you having an affair. I know you're not that kind of girl. You're my sister after all… And even if you had one… This is your life and I'm no one to decide for you." He paused, watching her closely. "But I think there's something else you ought to tell me, daughter of Hikari no Kami." Her heart stopped beating for a very long moment. From one to the other second she paled looking like a corps. Then it came to her… Hidan! Pain's gaze pierced her. Involuntary she took a step back and put her arms in a protective way around her body. "So?" he asked impatiently. "What 'So'! Yes, I am her daughter! What's so bad about that? We cannot choose our parents… And don't say it ought to be a blessing! You wouldn't think so if you knew how many lives this curse already took! You've no idea how brutally the Goddess tries to free my powers. Every day, every hour, even every second I've to fight to keep control. I do not want any more people to die because of me." Tears had begun to run down her face. "Natsuki" Pain said with a calming voice. "Think about what could've happened if the Goddess had broken free. How would I have been supposed to react?" His sincere, calm expression changed to a rare amused one. "I think you're the only one who was able to scare Hidan like that. He was so angry and worried when he told me." She relaxed visibly as she noticed that he didn't intend to force her to talk about it. "He actually formed two sentences without any swearing. I was almost speechless." Grinning she added: "Yeah, but only almost. I don't think I've ever seen you being speechless, Nii-san." "Perhaps." he meant and shrugged. Talking and both smiling they went back to their room. They hadn't noticed though, both being focused on the problem, that they hadn't been alone.


	6. The Mission  Part1: Preparing

"What the hell is this supposed to fucking be? Why do I have to go on a mission with Barbie, the money-grubbing asshole, a Sushi, a crazy puppet guy and the bitch?" Hidan's voice echoed in every hallway of the HQ. With difficulty Pain replied calmly: "Reliable sources sent us information that our HQ was found out. A group of high classed ninjas is supposed to arrive here this noon. I would appreciate it if we wouldn't have to move." Agreeing, Kakuzu nodded and added "And very expensive." Natsuki suppressed a grin. "Ok" Pain continued "Considering our all thoughts I prefer changing their memories instead of killing them." "What? What's the fucking reason for that?" Hidan interrupted. Pain ignored him completely. Instead his eyes wandered to Natsuki which had understood. So he knew about her ability to alter memories. She wondered how he was able to get so much information in so short time. "Altering their memories and sending them back to their home village will help us to keep our HQ. Killing them wouldn't change the fact that they know our whereabouts." Pain had mercy and explained for Hidan's sake the reason of his pacifistic way.

Pain certainly had a bad feeling, asking so much of Natsuki. The whole night he had searched for any other way but there was none. "How many enemies we're talking about anyway?" Kiasme asked wondering about the combination of the team. "I calculated three ninjas per one member." Pain said without emotion. "So it's 18." Sasori meant in the same way. "Almost, it's 17. I give you exactly 10 minutes. Then I want you to be already gone from the HQ for 5 minutes." Without another comment Natsuki, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori and Kakuzu disappeared. Only Hidan stayed. Pain sighed. "Indirectly I just said that you got 5 minutes to get your stuff and leave." Hidan nodded, not impressed at all. "I know. I only wondered if you assigned Natsuki one enemy less on purpose." Pain's eye flashed for a second. "Why should I assign her an enemy less? Could also be an enemy less for Sasori or Deidara." Pain replied coldly. "I know she's like a little sister to you. It wasn't easy not to overhear you yesterday night as she talked about her 'curse'." Heavily Pain hit his desk. Hidan fell silent right away as the Leader slowly got up, pushing his chair back. "Hidan, if you know how important she is to me, though you do not want to admit your own jealousy, then just do me the favor of protecting her. Stay with her and watch the Goddess. And stop eavesdropping on people!" Only as the door closed behind Hidan, Pain allowed himself to sit down sighing.

Breathing a sigh of relief Natsuki activated the last of Sasori's traps. Pain had had no information about the ninjas they were going to face in battle soon. No names, no abilities, no pictures. Being back at the meeting place they discussed their strategy. "I suggest half of us stay in the background. Though they'll be able to feel their chackras they'll not be able to recognize or identify them." Natsuki began self-confident. "The three in the foreground will try to get the enemy to display as many of their abilities as possible without exposing themselves. Only then we'll decide which ninja will be assigned to who." All Akatsukis agreed, nodding. "Deidara, Kakuzu and me will be the foreground." Sasori added right away "We already fought against Konoha-nins. While we know already some abilities of them they already know ours so we can't really expose ourselves. Besides we three possess the best wide-ranged abilities." Although being worried since she wouldn't be able to do anything, Natsuki agreed.

They didn't have to wait long. Not even ten minutes after they hid, the first traps were released. "Damn, Kiba, Naruto! The meaning of these traps wasn't death. But now they know we are here and even where!" Natsuki tried to catch sight of the enemy and leaned forward. Hidan moved a little closer to her, noticing her leaning forward. Surprised she looked at him. "What are you doing, Hidan?" she asked him whispering. "Just watching out that you don't fall off the tree and reveal our location!" Hidan replied annoyed. While talking he turned around and tried to clarify his actions with hand gesturing if he didn't swear. But he seemed to have forgotten their location because the hand gesturing had the result that his hand involuntarily touched her breast. Her cheeks turned dark red in embarrassment. Involuntary memories of his failed rape-attempt came up. Angry and at the same time scared she hit away his hand. "Hidan, what the hell are you doing?" She also seemed to have forgotten about their location and slipped off the branch she had lain on. "I didn't plan to…" Only now Hidan noticed Natsuki's missing. "Natsuki!" he yelled quietly after her.


	7. The Mission  Part2: Battle

Rough she landed on the ground, unfolded with a hurting rib and got up elegantly as possible. Now she faced a good dozen surprised ninjas. Quickly she tried to remember the books in Konoha's archives. Only able to remember some of it she recognized the four senseis: Hatake Kakashi, Kurenai, Might Guy and Sarutobi Asuma. The two gennin she identified were Uchiha Sasuke, Itachi's brother, and Uzumaki Naruto. The first attack came sudden and quickly. Natsuki felt a huge pressure on her right side. Her barrier protected her of any damage, of course, but the view of a close-up rasengan made her step back a little. For a moment she was about to faint thanks to the sudden loss of chackra. "Naruto!" Immediately the shadow clone disappeared and the blond guy shrugged. Natsuki hoped urgently Hidan would be clever enough to not interfere in this situation. Theoretically she should be able, too, to make them display as many abilities as possible. "What do you want?" she asked, challenging. "Ah right" she continued, not giving them a chance to answer (bad habit of her) "You found our HQ and think you can beat us now…" Again she paused dramatically and looked at her hands. "Sorry to disappoint you but I can't let that happen." She looked up. "You'll first have to beat me." She yelled and grinned provoking. She noticed some moves in a flash and immediately sank down cross-legged. Not a second too early her barrier stabilized, as everywhere around her pressure appeared. She sat still while the others kept launching attacks at her. If she hadn't stabilized her barrier fast enough, like before with the Naruto-boy, she would've lost again 40% chackra. She only had 70% of her chackra she could use… After all already 30% were in use the whole time for keeping up her emergency barrier. Quickly she disposed of those thoughts and fell into a state of trance to keep the consumption of chackra as low as possible. Trusting the other members to recognize and remember the displayed abilities of the enemy she closed her eyes and let her mind flow.

She had no idea how much time had passed when she opened her eyes again. She blinked and tried, without real success, to suppress the dizziness as she straightened up. To keep her from tripping an arm was put around her waist. Out of reflex she put a steadying hand on the arm. Without looking up she breathed deeply. Then she broke loose of the grip. "Thank you but that wasn't necessary." As she looked up she stared into magenta-colored eyes. Hidan grinned. "I think it was." To provoke her a little further he kept his arm around her waist some seconds longer before pulling back. Only then Natsuki noticed their situation. Kakuzu, Hidan and her stood in the midst of 17 Shinobi, who seemed to be quite confused. She was about to request an explanation from Hidan as Sasori, Deidara and Kisame also left their hiding spots. Specifically each of them attacked their assigned enemies and separated them from the group. Natsuki guessed Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke, which were the leftovers, to be hers. Fortunately she already knew about their abilities. It took a heartbeat for her beloved Katana to materialize. Accepting their enemy the two shinobi began to attack her.

It seemed to become a habit that she didn't know how much time had passed. But suddenly the balanced situation changed as the Kyuubi-boy ran towards them. She managed to dodge though the power of the rasengan on her barrier sent her flying against a close-standing tree. She gasped at the impact. Even though she knew breaking down could mean her death her legs didn't listen and she sank to the ground. But before the chidori of the young Uchiha could hit her something got in its way. Hidan's body twitched as the electric ran through it. "Hidan!" Natsuki yelled frightened. With a single swearing Sasuke pulled his hand back noticing it hadn't the expected effect on the enemy. Hidan's legs deteriorated as the electricity left his body. Quickly Natsuki kneeled next to him. "You idiot! Are you ok?" Hidan grinned. "Of course!" Relieved she replied with a smile herself. It disappeared though as she analyzed their situation. The others, too, were getting tired. Some were already hurt, like Hidan. Should she dare it? If it turned out bad, she would lose everything… She pushed her thoughts aside and a determined expression appeared on her face. She sent Hidan an apologetic look. Even though Hidan noticed it only shortly he knew exactly what she planned. "Natsuki, no! He'll kill you himself if you do it!"She blocked him out. Calmly she put her hands over her heart. Slowly light emerged from inside of her. Her body was lifted into the air by an invisible force while light got continually stronger. Concentration and pain were crossing her face. Suddenly she bent backwards and her mouth opened in a silent cry. Big white-silver wings appeared, coming out of her back, and stretched towards both sides. Her hair fell in red cascades over her shoulders. At first her eyes seemed to be pure light though it slowly got weaker and in the end left silver eyes. The energy which had been released at her change had sent all people present to the ground. All eyes were set on the girl whose feet now touched the ground again. The Katana holding in her right hand she stopped to look around. A quick movement turned away from the angel. Shuriken and kunais were flying towards the girl. Without blinking she stood there. Suddenly a feather severed from her left wing and turned away the weapons in the midst of their straight flight. Another feather severed and found its destination in a girl's shoulder which had been the origin of the weapons. She yelled out and held her shoulder. "Tenten!" yelled a guy in a green costume worried. "Natsuki, stop it! It's enough!" Hidan yelled now, too, lying behind her. He watched frightened and worried as the blood, coming out of the wounds her own wings had caused her, colored her white dress red. As she turned her head for a second Hidan saw the fear and pain deep inside her. It had to be a fucking scary feeling if she even showed it… She looked at him determined. "What's that?" Uzumaki asked suddenly. Only now Hidan turned away his eyes from hers and stared at a halo that had appeared above her head. _"Rest in peace. May the Gods keep holding a protective hand over you. May the light be always with you and lead you in times of darkness. Oblivere." _ Her eyes stayed on the young Uchiha a moment longer. Then she lifted her arms above the confused Konoha-nins, using her wings to stay in the air. Suddenly the shinobi were surrounded by a sphere of light. Though they tried to get out of it at first, they soon calmed down and closed relaxed their eyes. The jaw-bone of some of the Akatsukis dropped, excluding Kakuzu and Sasori. Only a minute ago they had been fighting against those shinobi and now they were lying there sound asleep in a bubble of light. As the light disappeared the last of the Akas had regained his manners. What happened next would cause a lot of serious discussions. Natsuki turned from the enemy and lifted again her hands. _"May the light always protect you and be the savior at the end of a dark tunnel. Sanitare." _The Akas were surrounded by light. And even though they didn't want anything else than escape its warm arms they soon calmed down. And for the first time, for most of them probably in ages, they were able to relax. Hidan caught a last glimpse of Natsuki before his eyes closed, too. It almost frightened him to see this loneliness, fear and pain in her usual strong eyes.


	8. Important Conversations

Impatiently Pain waited for their return. He had been knocking with a pen on his desk for hours and kept glancing at the clock. Finally he felt movements close to the entrance of the HQ: He almost jumped up and left the room. As soon as he closed the door his cold mask appeared on his face. Discovering the faces of the other members he felt immediately that something must've gone wrong. It wasn't the fact that they looked quite beaten, he was used to that. It was the blissful, calm though a little confused look on their faces. It simply was not natural at all. "What happened? What took you so long?" he asked. The others just shook their head and made room for Hidan. Natsuki lay in his arms, pale and lifeless. Pain's eyes widened. Carefully he took her in his arms and walked straight to his room, where he out her on her bed. As Konan noticed his facial expression she followed, as well did Hidan and Sasori. As Hidan closed the door behind himself Pain stared at him imperious. "She fucking changed. Besides her changing the memories of the Konoha-shinobi , she healed them, too. And when she saw that we were hurt, too, she did the same with us. When we woke up afterwards she was just lying there next to me in her blood, damn it. That's all I know, man…" It was clearly visible how much Natsuki's state affected Hidan. Pain turned to Natsuki. Understanding Konan put a hand on Pain's shoulder. "Can I be of any help in some way?" Sasori asked. "Leave some bandages and ointment here. I'll do the rest." Konan answered smiling. Sasori nodded, put the requested things on the desk and left the room. "It would be best if you left the room for the time I'm cleaning the wounds and bandaging her." Konan said turning to Pain and Hidan. Both walked hesitantly towards the door. In the end Konan simply shoved both of them out of the room and locked the door.

Half an hour later Pain and Hidan entered again and sat down on the bed beside Natsuki, both silent. "If you keep putting on faces like that, she'll never wake up!" Konan said strict. "The wounds on her back were severe but I saw some scars, which indicated that she already had injuries like that and did survive them. The only reason she is still unconscious is the huge loss of chackra. It seems that barrier of her uses up quite a lot even when she's only sleeping. But I'm sure she'll wake up soon." Even though no relief was displayed on the two men's faces, Konan knew better. She left the room to go lie down in her own for a bit.

"When do you think it started?" Hidan asked quietly as soon as Konan's steps had faded away. Pain paused long before he answered. "It must have happened after we parted. She didn't have it when we were travelling together." "How do you know though?" Hidan quickly replied. "She could have already had it but simply didn't show it. In fact she must have already had it. She is the daughter of a Goddess." Pain shot him a short hard glance. "But the powers activate usually only at a certain age. She simply wasn't old enough yet. I couldn't detect anything strange about her chackra when I met her first." Hidan got up. "Yeah, but you couldn't detect anything strange about her chackra now either!" He had begun to yell, perhaps out of frustration, out of desperation or simply out of tiredness. Whatever it was, it annoyed Pain. "How about, you give me an explanation then! She didn't tell me how it happened, yet. And if you probably would have eavesdropped anyway, right!" Even Pain had now raised his voice, getting tired of Hidan's questioning and expecting attitude. The worry about his little sister had left him awake during the last few nights. "Could you stop yelling? You both really are a pain in the ass when you're tired." Natsuki's voice sounded a bit scratchy. Both heads turned around in less than a heartbeat and stared at the girl which lay on the bed, wearily rubbing her eyes. "We should call Konan." Pain said looking at Hidan. Hesitant, since he had wanted to talk to her, too, Hidan turned to get Konan. For now Natsuki probably would have to listen to Pain's sermon. Hidan grinned at the thought and left.

Pain's eyes were fixed on her. Noticing that fact, her eyes stayed fixed on the door, Hidan had just closed behind himself. Somewhere in her mind she wondered what that grin had meant. "Why did you allow it?" "I didn't allow it, I provoked it. I called willfully upon my powers." "Even though you knew how dangerous it would be." Pain interrupted. She sighed and finally met his gaze. "Of course I did. Nii-san, I've lived with these powers for some years now. I know about the side effects. But I also know that they've the means to save lives. And that's all I did." Her voice had a soft tone. Calming she put her hand on his. He pulled it away and looked at her with now angry eyes. "You could've died! I told you to hold back! You didn't have to use your abilities except for changing their memories!" Surprised by his loud voice, Natsuki flinched. However she quickly overcame her surprise and yelled "Stop it!" Pain fell silent, cold eyes fixed on her. "I just told you. I've lived with these powers since my damn birth! I even used to fight with them for some time. The only reason I stopped using them was my mother. She kept trying to persuade me to become a real Goddess." A little quieter she added "Well, and my body couldn't fully keep up yet…" She shook her head, trying to get rid of that thought and continued. "I'm nothing more than a half-breed. And I do not want to become a Goddess. I like it here too much as to leave. So… before you try to tell me how to handle my powers, try to understand that I'm not the little girl anymore you saved on that bloody cold day. I might still look young thanks to my powers but I did become more mature. I usually know my limits and I can win battles on my own, with my own powers." She inhaled deeply as if she had forgotten to do it the last two minutes. Quietly the door opened and Konan entered, directly followed by Hidan. "Sorry… to interrupt. I'll come back later." Konan said quickly, having analyzed the situation. "No" Natsuki waved at her "We just finished talking. Pain was about to leave anyway." Konan nodded slowly. For a long moment Pain's eyes were fixed on Natsuki, then he turned and left the room without looking at anyone else.


	9. Recovery

The door closed with a loud thud, which made Natsuki twitch. She exhaled slowly and it was only then that she showed how exhausted her body had still been. With a weary expression she sank back into her pillow and looked with dark-circled eyes to the ceiling. "You shouldn't have acted up that much. Your body will never fully recover if you keep putting it under such strain!" Konan said strictly as she quickly moved next to Natsuki. She put her hand on her forehead and made an annoyed sound. A fever would be another strain on the already weakened body of her best friend. "No more visitior, who yell or agitate you in any possible way. In fact, you shouldn't have any more visitors at all!" Immediately the young woman protested "You can't do that! I can't just lie here without anything to do or to talk to! Please, Konan!" Konan sighed. "You know I wouldn't do that. Just promise to keep calm. The faster you recover the better. And the faster you can yell, shout, discuss and get into fights again." Natsuki nodded, smiling. Then she sank into her pillow and in a matter of seconds she was asleep. Natsuki, being too exhausted, hadn't noticed Hidan's silent presence. He had sat down on a chair next to her desk and simply had watched the two women. "If you want to stay here you'll have to swear on Jashin that you won't annoy her or anything like that!" Konan said coldly. Of course she had noticed the attraction between those two. She had seen the look in Natsuki's eyes and Hidan's changed behavior. Natsuki did deserve somebody who would adore her. While Hidan needed somebody who wouldn't have a problem with his temperament, his quickly changing moods, as well as with his swearing and his religion. And Natsuki was perfectly fit for that. Though she didn't like to have fights with the people she liked, she still clearly stated her opinion. Konan sighed. "What the hell was that for?" Hidan asked looking at her confused. His old self was on its way back to the surface, after some days of being someone completely different, thanks to Natsuki's state. Konan shook her head and simply awaited his promise. "Ok, ok. May Jashin-sama be my witness; I swear to not annoy her in any way." The rolling of his eyes made Konan wonder if he would really keep it. Somewhere in her mind she heard Natsuki say 'Konan, you're being too strict again! Close your eyes, breathe in… and open them again. If you did it right everything should be purple by now.' Seeing her confused friend, a big grin had lightened up Natsuki's face that time. Smiling to herself, Konan went to her own room to finally get some rest.

Listening to Konan's disappearing steps, Hidan moved his chair closer to Natsuki's bed. He examined her body thoroughly because he knew as soon as she woke up he wouldn't be able to enjoy a great view like that anymore. Natsuki moved a lot in her sleep and steadily pushed away her blankets, soon exposing her whole body. Though struggling to keep control over his own body, Hidan moved to pull up the blankets again to keep her warm. But suddenly Natsuki turned and by accident slapped Hidan across the face with the back of her hand. "What the fuck?" Hidan yelled out. She only mumbled something and did not let his swearing disturb her precious sleep.


	10. Conclusions and Feelings

Two days later Natsuki saw herself confronted with an extremely pissed Hidan. "I'm really sorry, ok? I didn't want to slap you." "You still did and you did it 3 fucking times! That's no accident anymore!" "Come on now! Get a grip! How am I supposed to slap you on purpose, while being asleep?" Though she had actually felt sorry for slapping him, his childish behavior pissed her off. Before Hidan was able to reply she simply turned and walked out of the room to look for Konan. "Hey, wait! You can't just leave now! We're not done yet!" She could imagine his sulking face and smiled. She knocked quietly on Konan's door. She waited a moment but didn't receive an answer. She knocked two more times with the same result. She went on to the dining room and the kitchen. Kisame, Itachi, Deidara and Sasori were sitting at the table over cups of coffee. "Morning" she said smiling. "You really shouldn't have done that back there…" Sasori said seriously. Natsuki sighed theatrically. "Not you, too… I already had the same discussion with Pain and that's the conclusion I came to: I can change neither what I am nor what I have. So instead of not acknowledging the powers I was granted, I might as well use them and save my friends, right? All of you would do exactly the same. And I don't have to become a real Goddess forever to have access to my abilities. Any more objections?" Kisame and Deidara grinned at her. Sasori and Itachi, too, were persuaded and showed a little smile. "One more request…" Unnoticed Kakuzu had entered the kitchen. "Take care of that idiot, Hidan… He's been on putting quite the strain on my nerves… He keeps talking and talking and talking…" "Doesn't he always do that?" Natsuki asked a little surprised that Kakuzu would complain so openly about Hidan. "Yeah, but he keeps talking about you…" Natsuki's eyes widened and she blushed intensely. "Oh…" She turned and left the kitchen quickly.

The men at the table chuckled and Kakuzu grinned contently. Now things would get interesting and fun.

With her head lowered Natsuki left the HQ and walked through the woods. Her thoughts wouldn't turn around anything else than Hidan right now. She remembered his scared face each time she had turned into a Goddess; remembered their situation during the mission on the tree, his voice when he called her name while she fell.

Involuntarily her feet had brought her to the clearing where she had changed into a Goddess for the first time. She touched the tree he had thrown her against, kissed her. Her right hand wandered to her lips and she remembered the feeling. Slowly she sat down, leaning against the tree, and watched the sky for the rest of the day. Sometimes she heard Konan calling her name but she didn't react.

She enjoyed a great sunset and afterwards began to watch the stars. Suddenly she heard footsteps coming closer. She sat up and saw Hidan running towards her. "What the hell have you been thinking, bitch?" he called already from distance. "Konan has been worried like hell! She has been driving me crazy! Just like Pain. When he heard that you had disappeared from your room, he has been shouting and yelling at us!" Natsuki had to smile excusing. "Sorry for that…" she said quietly, still a little numb from all the remembering and thinking. Instead of listening to his complaining she interrupted and asked: "Hidan, why were you sitting guard at my bed when I was sleeping?" Hidan looked at her surprised. He hadn't expected that. "I don't know…" he answered uncertainly. "Don't get me wrong." Natsuki quickly added with a serious expression. "I'm happy you did. I only wanted to know if you had a certain reason." A gentle wind carried her voice to him and made him shiver. Her white summer dress had black ornaments sewn on it. She turned to the tree behind her and traced with her right hand the old bark. "Do you remember this place?" Hidan looked around and eventually nodded. Slowly he stepped towards her until his body touched her back. She didn't move, didn't say anymore. His hands slowly moved to her waist. Then with a quick spin he turned her to face him. She looked at him calmly. "You'd better be serious about it." Not able to control his desire anymore, Hidan kissed her fierce. His arms entwined around her with the clear intent to never let go. He pressed her against the tree just like the first time. But this time… she wanted it, too. She put her hands around his neck while he kept stroking her sides.

Suddenly they heard Pain calling. "Natsuki! Natsuki!" Reluctantly she separated from him. "He would probably tear you into pieces if he saw that right now. Let me talk to him first." She whispered and gave him a last sweet kiss. Then she turned and ran towards her brother's voice. "I'm here." She said as she spotted him. "Why did you disappear so sudden?" he asked worried. "I needed some time to think. Alone…" He sighed and hugged her tightly. She understood his apology and accepted it gladly. "Nii-san… there's something I want you to know." He let go of her and watched her skeptically. Before she was able to say something, Hidan stepped out of the woods grinning. "She's mine now." Pain's eyes showed anger. "You little…" "Nii-san!" Natsuki interrupted him. Hidan put his arms around her waist. "Though I didn't plan to reveal it like that, he's right." "But-" "No buts… I want it… It would be great if you could accept it but even if you don't, I will not change it." Their eyes were fixated on each other. Finally Pain sighed again and nodded. Then he looked at Hidan. "You'd better be serious about it! If you hurt her, I'll tear you to pieces and burn them afterwards." Hidan agreed still grinning. "I'll go back." Pain turned and returned to the hideout. Natsuki knew it would take him a while to completely accept it but eventually he would.

"So… where did we stop again?" She smiled and kissed him which he happily deepened. More was to happen during this night which only the stars were allowed to see.


End file.
